WIP: Sauber Mercedes C9 Le Mans 1988

[generationx]

So here we go with another Work In Progress.

The kit is the Tamiya Sauber Mercedes C9 which has been very popular here on AF. Still, I fancied a crack at it so will try something a little different. I've got the Studio27 "Circuit Board" decals, plus photoetch set, seatbelts, and Scale Motorsport templated carbon fibre. This will be my first project with C/F so we'll see how it goes.

The team of dark blue cars was entered at Le Mans in 1988 but didn't race because of problems with the tyres. Never mind, it should look great as a model.

All the stuff for the project:



The decals and photo-etch:



First job is to prepare the body, so I've shaved off the door hinges, body fixings and bracket in front of the hole in the body side. These will be replaced by the photo-etched parts. I drilled a 0.5mm hole to remind me where the body fixing goes:



Then the front panel will need fitting and the gaps filling before the paint goes on.:



So that's about it for an introduction. Progress will be slow as I have little modelling time, but watch out for sporadic updates...

[Spitfire7]

Good luck, especially with the decals. I'll be watching

[NissanSkylineGTR98]

Looks like an interesting build, i'll be following this one

[wouter1981]

I've just build one and posted it some day's ago (chek it out). Be wary of the round air inlets under the lights. You need to gleu them on the body and putty the gaps. It really makes the car better.

[Realsweden]

I'll be watching this build, because I really like this car (I built one last year or so), and I already have another one waiting to build this same version, probably using the same PE set you are using

Good luck!

Marco

[americas911]

I will also watch this thread, interested how it will look once the decals go on. Ive been eyeing the exact set up, but figured I should finish what I have started, enzo, fw24, spiderman bike, fortuna bike, oh and that work thing to
Good luck!

Doug

[Shunter]

I have never seen this one done with the set of decals you will be using. It was a great looking car, and with so many of the standard C9's being/been done it will be a great change to see yours.
Good luck.
Cheers,
Shayne

[mattsmith]

hey, i'm bitting away at my C9 still, and have seen this livery during my search for references. looks real nice!

one thing that i can't figure out is the smoothing of the front bodywork. on some references (new and old) the front panel and the air inlet ducts for the brake cooling appear both smoothed in and also as seperate pieces rivetted to the front panels. does anyone have any definitive answers to which years/races used which system? i'm confused and have already smoothed the larger panel in, before noticing differences in the reference material available!

[Jamme]

Hello,
I think you have the wrong kit to make the AEG version.....
You shoul have the Hasegawa C9, the front pannel is shorter, and, I think this is much more accurate.....
I have the same set up also, decals Photoechted parts, but I buyed, on Ebay, the Hasegawa kit, for the reasons above......
he origal car has the small front panel...
Sorry,

Jamme

[ScaleCentral]

You can use the Tamiya kit as the AEG car ran in that configuration for the LeMans and one other race I believe.
Nic

Originally Posted by Jamme

Hello,
I think you have the wrong kit to make the AEG version.....
You shoul have the Hasegawa C9, the front pannel is shorter, and, I think this is much more accurate.....
I have the same set up also, decals Photoechted parts, but I buyed, on Ebay, the Hasegawa kit, for the reasons above......
he origal car has the small front panel...
Sorry,

Jamme

[Jamme]

Hello,
Speaking over the Le Mans race (even if they didn't race......) The only pictures I have shows the small the small front panel......
I don't speak about the other races I don't know.....
Now, if you have pictures of the Le Mans Race with the (Tamiya) car, i am very interested into.
I can't post the pictures I have, because I have to find them back.......
Greetings,

Jamme

[ScaleCentral]

There was a problem with the tires that year if I recall and the AEG cars were withdrawn so they never raced other than the testing. Here they are...







Here is the winner of the 1988 Spa 1000km. Notice it has the high downforce wing.



Here's the 1988 Silverstone 1000km where they finished 2nd and 3rd.







Here is the version that Hasegawa has. One from Spa and and one from Fuji.





The high downforce wing is easy to make. All you need to do is make new ends and a second upper wing. I made one about a year ago, but never got to the finishing stages with it.
Nic

[Jamme]

Thank you for the pictures,
Really interesting!
I have to find mine back......
But I don't have the ones you posted......so, once again thank you!

Jamme

[Shunter]

Excellent pictures Nic, thank you very much for posting and sharing them. Makes it a hard decision now to choose which one to build.....Maybe i have to buy another and do both...

[Shunter]

Found this link which may be of interest???
http://truesdell.eng.uci.edu/scale_m...tos/Sauber_C9/